Igarden2

I am happy for you to have obtained an acceptable stove in a reasonable time.  In the last year we have had to replace two appliances.  We purchased through a locally owned business that we have used before. The microwave was easy.  They had it in stock and delivered in our time frame.  The refrigerator was promised (by the manufacturer) to be at their warehouse  within 3 weeks.  It didn't happen that way.  They kept us up to date but it took a few months to get the one we really wanted. 

Lessons learned.  IF it isn't in stock, don't expect it to be on time.  Supply issues are more serious than we ever expected.  Note: this all happened before the current problems.  Yes, Covid shutdowns were the main driver, but now I expect it to be even slower. 

Side story:  Last summer I had a Deere go belly up for want of a gear assembly.  Not one was to be had inside the USA.  Deere had one in a warehouse in Germany.  That took over 3 weeks to get to my dealer.  My machine was down for over 5 weeks.  I was rather frustrated and had to rely on other machines to do the work.  Just last week I was at the same dealer.  I overheard a member of staff on the telephone tell a customer " Unless someone has that part in hand no body is going to give you a firm delivery date. "

Again, I am glad you got a new stove. 

We planted 3 varieties of pole beans this spring.  It rained and rained.  The Trionfo Violetto have grown and produced abundantly as usual.  The other varieties did not do well at all in the  same soil and same row.  Next year my wife wants to skip the other varieties and only plant these beans.  They are well formed and not spotted by fungus ( a rarity in my area).  However, the Japanese Beetles prefer these beans' leaves over the others.  They must know a good thing when they see one. 

Does anyone else find it remarkable that a pressure canner costing $72.99 from North Carlolina will cost an extra $50.76 for shipping and $20.11 for import charges? That's $70.87 just for shipping and import on a $72.99 canner.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-PRESTO-01755-PRESSURE-CANNER-COOKER-16-QUART-WITH-GUAGE-NEW-IN-BOX-SALE/110443186087?_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140328180637%26meid%3D2ecd6ce0f43547f7982a0c237f6a8bb0%26pid%3D100009%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D8%26mehot%3Dag%26sd%3D261815323946

We have been slicing and drying apples on and off for days. Helps warm the house, too.

I have jerky in a canning jar, lid screwed on, in my freezer. The low moisture in it keeps it from getting 'freezer burn' or off flavors. Every time I take out a slice it seems to be pretty much the same as when I froze it months ago. Note: it is pretty dry jerky.

"A-cow-in-a-jar" Ummm.... just how big is that jar?

Quarts of tomatoes in the canner. Woohoo!!

OK, tomatoes sound soooo prosaic.

However, with the cool summer we've had, just seeing a ripe tomato is cause for celebration.

I'm still confused.

But that's OK. Seems to be my nature lately.

Thank you for posting this information. I learnt sumthin'.

This kindle book is free today. I found it to be quite informative.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E6EGS0M/?tag=fkb1-20

27 pints of dill pickles.

My wife and I almost always work together on canning. We are such a pair of goofballs that it doesn't seem like work, usually.

Can anyone comment (based on personal experience) concerning the quality of product using Clear gel for jams and jellies?
I would definitely try it if others have had good results.

Last year I bought a juicer similar to the Jack LaLanne juicer. It worked great for harder vegetables like carrots and celery, but not at all for softer fruits like grapes and peaches. Apples were possible to juice, but I didn't care for the color, texture or flavor of the juice. It was brown, cloudy and tasted funny. It really did oxydize in the juicer.

I then obtained a steam juicer and tried it on apples. It did a wonderful job. I have not tried it yet on grapes or peaches. A friend of mine told me hers works very well on grapes.

As to the metal, I am hesitant to use any metal but stainless with fruits and juices. I had a problem last year when I extracted grape juice using aluminum ware. The metallic taste was terrible. I canned it and later decanted the juice. The juice was great. I think it was he sediment that had the metallic taste.

Since the steam juicer was a gift I can't comment on where to get the best price. I just know it was expensive. It is of a heavier gauge stainless and the bottom is heavy. I guess that is good because it will be more stable on the stove than a lighter one. I noted that some models had negative feedback on the web concerning warping of thin metal or manufacturing defects. I would definitely try to get one with a money back satisfaction guarantee.

I just checked my Ball Blue Book for instructions on canning fruit juices. Following their directions I would not hesitate canning fruit juices whether extracted with a Jack LaLane Power Juicer or more traditional means. Most, not all, fruit juices seem to have enough acid to render them safe for boiling water bath canning.

One exception is peach or apricot juice. The 'bible' calls for a tablespoon of lemon juice to be added per quart.

In general the instruction seem to be to heat the juice to 190°F for berry or grape juice or to a full boil for apple or cranberry juice and then add to hot sterile jars and then boiling water bathed for 15 minutes . There are time variations for the 'boiling' of the juice depending on which fruit was used.

I have no idea what other juices call for. I know you can make carrot juice with a good juicer, but how to can it I have no clue.

I really value the Ball Blue Book and would encourage anyone to consult it before proceeding.

I may have found a solution to the metallic taste in the grape juice.

I opened a quart yesterday to see if the flavor was a bad as I remembered. I noted a layer of grayish sediment in the bottom and I carefully decanted the juice to eliminate the sediment. Voila ! The metallic flavor was all but gone !

I have had tartrate crystals in my juice before and never had the metallic flavor of this batch. I do not 'think' that the metallic flavor was caused by tartrate crystals because I didn't see any crystals yesterday. I remember letting the juice settle in the refrigerator for at least a day to eliminate the crystals before canning.

I'm no chemist so I can't be sure of what was in that sediment. I will be carefully observing the remaining jars when I open them.

I am, however, very happy to have good, sweet grape juice.

NB: I used my new stainless steel steam juice extractor yesterday on the remainder of my apples. It worked slicker than sliced bread. Very little effort and good quality juice.

We processed a dozen quarts of home grown grape juice. It has a very metallic taste that we don't particularly like.

I realize now that we should have not used metal equipment in the extraction, but it's too late to change that. Lesson learned for next year.
Does anyone have any ideas to get rid of the metallic taste?

You can always rehydrate. Are y'all finding decent bags of fresh cranberries? The past few years, you have to buy two bags to get one bag's amount after picking out the unripe [white] ones and squished ones and rock-hard ones.... Yuk. I buy canned mostly now.

 

We also buy the Crasins [Midnight's pic] and are quite annoyed when we have to search to find "CRANBERRY-flavored" dried cranberries. So many people want cherry flavored, or some such. Hellloooo....I'm buying cranberries!

 

 

MtRider

This last October I had the pleasure of visiting Wisconsin's cranberry capital, Warrens. I had a tour of working bogs and learned a few things. The two preceeding years prices were high and lesser in quality, mostly due to weather. This year the crop was excellent in quantity and quality. Of course, wholesale prices were low for the producers. Let's hope the available berries are better than the last few years.